§ 46. Mr. Roseasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the average teacher-pupil ratio for primary and secondary schools in the Greater Manchester area during 1975; and what the ratio is expected to be during each of the next five years on the basis of current expenditure forecasts.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe ratios in Greater Manchester in 1975 were 25.6: 1 in primary schools and 17.1:1 in secondary schools. Information about the ratios in 1976 is not yet available, although the national ratios are expected to have improved between 1975 and 1976 437W by about 0.6 in primary schools and about 0.2 in secondary schools. The Department's Circular 15/75 recommended that authorities hold staffing standards constant in the school year 1976–77.
Forecasts in the White Paper on public expenditure to 1979–80 (Cmnd. 6393) assumed the maintenance of staffing at the respective standards which have been achieved nationally in 1976.